Record-high number of executives receives over 100 million yen in annual wage

July 15, 2017

It has come to light that the number of company directors paid more than one hundred million yen for fiscal year 2016 hits a record high of 457, and that the total amount of these executive salaries was estimated at 93.7 billion yen, turning out to be the highest amount ever.

Akahata calculated the number of high paid directors and the amounts of executive compensation using the financial statement reports of the listed enterprises in FY 2016 submitted at the end of June 2017.

The highest paid executive was Nikesh Arora, former president of Japan’s major telecommunications and internet corporation Softbank, who received 10.34 billion yen. Arora was also the highest earner in the previous year, obtaining 6.47 billion yen.

The number of company directors who obtained over one hundred million yen totaled 22 for Mitsubishi Electronic, 11 for Itochu Corporation, and 10 each for Panasonic and Sony. Mitsubishi Electronic had more than 20 high paid executives for the third consecutive year, and the total amount paid for 22 executive salaries reached 2.57 billion yen. In all three companies - Itochu, Panasonic and Sony - the number of high paid executives increased significantly compared to the previous year.